1. Field of the Invention
The field of this invention is unpowered devices and processes for surface conditioning of various types of game balls, including those which are basically spherical and near-spherical forms as well as other spheroidal articles.
2. Description of Prior Art
Baseballs pick up stains and mud during use when the game is played outdoors. The horsehide leather cover and seams are typically cleaned by hand to remove natural surface deposits as well as rosin or gums which are sometimes intentionally applied by the players. Whitening agents may also be used to restore the bright color of a new ball. No publication could be found which discloses a manual or powered cleaner/conditioner for baseball covers.
Golf balls are subject to much greater levels of surface contamination due to their "inward-dimpled" surface texture and frequent impacts with foliage, algae in water traps, and clay mud in bunkers. Balls used in other games such as croquet are also subject to accumulation of surface soil which impairs their impact, flight or rolling performance.
Several motor-powered scrubbers have been disclosed to clean large numbers of golf balls as might be used in a driving range. U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,251, Hollrock (1989), depicts a combination of a motor-driven, horizontal rotating brush drum and a spaced set of curved, stationary ball-guides. In operation, several hundred balls are fed into the cleaner from a hopper and the rotation of the brush causes them to move as a "string of pearls" along the track in a smooth, continuous, circular/helical path and be transported finally to the exit chute. U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,114, Thrasher (1988), discloses a similar apparatus with a spiral cage to guide the balls along the rotating brush drum. Typical golf-ball cleaners for a driving range run at a fixed speed, rotate in only one direction as required to move the balls at high speed from the input chute to the output, and frequently water for cleaning is fed continuously from a hose, so there is no sump with attendant buildup of removed soil. These large units are maintained and operated by range staff and are capable of handling up to 9000 balls per hour to clean off limited surface soil typical of a driving range which has no water/mud hazards. Careful control of ball speed and trajectory is required in such machines to avoid excess dimple wear and surface damage such as cuts, scratches and abrasions from the corners of fixed guides and edges of the chutes. No evidence can be found that such high-speed, powerful machines have been miniaturized for lightweight battery drive and use on a golf cart or attached to a golf bag.
So called "pocket" cleaning devices for soiled golf balls tend to be small chambers for cleaning a single ball such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,917, Britton (1984). This unit incorporates a cylindrical housing about 2-3 ball diameters long with a threaded cover and fixed helical bristle strip attached to its interior surface. Cleaning is accomplished by putting a ball into the chamber, closing the top cover, and shaking vigorously to propel the ball back and forth inside the bristle chamber. Frequently, the automatic-ball-ejection features of such devices are a strong selling point; the user does not have to reach into the device, which may be covered with dirty water and slime, to remove the "cleaned" game ball. Units of this general type typically can hold no more than about 25-50 milliliters of water, which requires either precleaning of gross soil from the game balls or frequent replacement of the water. If these precautions are not taken, the "cleaned" balls will be covered with muddy water which must be removed by additional "post-cleaning" steps such as wiping and rinsing. In this and similar devices without means to assure positive rotation of the golf ball against the cleaning elements, the movements of the ball are linear, sliding displacements along the axis of the container cylinder. No "pocket" golf-ball cleaner can be found which assures removal of mud caked into the dimples of a golf ball. This and similar devices are promoted for use by the sportsperson who may be wearing white or light-colored clothing which would be stained by spills of contaminated waste from the bail scrubber. Regrettably, the "pocket" devices exhibit a number of less than ideal characteristics such as weight, bulk, and inefficient cleaning of anything except small amounts of light soils. Another unacceptable problem is gradual leakage of the contaminated waste while the scrubber is being carried in the user's pocket; this frequently results in embarrassing spots and stains to costly, high-fashion apparel. One obvious limitation of the "pocket" cleaners is the requirement for wearing slacks with one or more capacious pockets to carry the device and associated supplies, etc.
No method or apparatus for cleaning game balls can be found which teaches the use of aqueous-type cleaning fluids which do not leave a scum of soap residue or water-hardness minerals on the surface of the golf ball. Neither can any reference be found in old-art game-ball cleaners to the use of non-aqueous fluids, solutions, emulsions, or liposomes which produce a thin continuous surface film on the game ball which is hydrophobic, i.e., not wettable by ordinary water and mud. Similarly, the use of enzyme additives in cleaning fluids cannot be found in patents for old-art, game-ball cleaners.